Welcome to
Words Matter, Dynamic Literacy's newsletter.
We have something special just for you.
Welcome to issue #13 of
Words Matter. Please feel free to share with a friend!
Here's the good stuff.
Brain Teasers
The story of English continues to be written. How do new words make it into the dictionary? They are coined (someone makes them up), used, and eventually accepted into the lexicon. "Dis" is an example. "Dis" used to be just a little ole prefix meaning "not." Now, it is accepted as meaning "disrespect" - and as a verb!
The word atom was created from the Greek parts a meaning not, and tom, meaning cut. It means cannot be cut. Now that we know an atom can in fact be cut, we don't go back and rename it.
Remember, English is a dual language. Here are some old sayings translated into the most sophisticated "language of the winners" we could come up with, er, I mean manifest. We'll help you out with the first one. The answers to the rest are near the bottom of the page. Don't cheat!
Members of an avian species of identical plumage congregate. = Birds of a feather, flock together.
It is fruitless to become lachrymose in reference to precipitately diffused lacteal fluid. = ???
All articles coruscating resplendently are not actually auriferous. = ???
Vigilance (or Surveillance) should precede saltation. = ???
